Beyond the Miles: A Conversation About Fashion, Running & Run Culture
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Running looks different today.
What was once viewed primarily as a sport has grown into a culture shaped by community, personal style, coffee shops, city streets, and the people we meet along the way.
For this edition of the RCR Journal, we sat down with Alex Mercer, a creative director and running culture contributor, to talk about the changing world of running, why fashion has become such an important part of it, and what today's run club movement says about where running culture is headed.
Q: Running seems to be having a cultural moment right now. Why do you think that is?
A: People are discovering that running can be about much more than exercise.
For a long time, the conversation around running focused on pace, distance, training plans, and races. Those things still matter, but run clubs have introduced another side of it.
People are running together, grabbing coffee afterward, meeting new friends, traveling to races, and building routines around the experience.
Running has become social.
And once something becomes part of your lifestyle, culture naturally starts developing around it.
Q: Where does fashion fit into that?
A: Fashion has always been a way for people to communicate what they're into.
You see a band shirt and immediately know something about the person wearing it. The same thing happens with skateboarding, surfing, basketball, motorsports, and countless other communities.
Running is starting to have that same visual identity.
People aren't necessarily changing clothes the second their run ends anymore. The running outfit goes to the coffee shop. The run club shirt gets worn with jeans later in the week. A running hat becomes something you wear all weekend.
Running clothes are crossing over into everyday style.
That's where it gets interesting.
Q: Do you have to be a serious runner to be part of run culture?
A: Not at all.
That's actually one of the things we like most about what's happening.
Some people are training for marathons. Some run a few miles every weekend. Some are joining their first run club. Others simply like the community and culture surrounding it.
There's room for all of them.
Being a "regular" isn't about being the fastest person in the group.
It's about showing up.
Q: Why have run clubs become so popular?
A: People want connection.
Running can be incredibly individual, but run clubs turn it into something shared.
You might arrive knowing nobody and spend the next few miles talking to someone you never would have met otherwise.
Then everyone finishes and goes somewhere for coffee or breakfast.
Eventually you stop showing up only because you want to run.
You start showing up because your people are there.
That's powerful.
Q: Coffee seems strangely connected to modern run culture. What's going on there?
A: The post-run coffee might be almost as important as the run.
That's where people actually get to know one another.
During the run, you're moving. Afterward, you're sitting around talking about work, travel, music, shoes, races, relationships—whatever comes up.
Coffee shops have almost become unofficial clubhouses for running communities.
The miles bring everyone together.
The coffee keeps them there.
Q: How would you describe the style surrounding running right now?
A: It's becoming much less rigid.
Performance apparel is still important, but you're seeing technical running pieces mixed with traditional sportswear and streetwear.
Running shorts with an oversized tee.
A technical jacket with casual pants.
Running shoes worn all day.
A run club T-shirt with jeans.
A performance hat that never actually makes it onto a run.
The boundaries are disappearing.
That's why we think the intersection between running and fashion has so much room to grow.
Q: Is that where Run Club Regular fits in?
A: Exactly.
Run Club Regular isn't trying to tell people what a runner is supposed to look like.
We're interested in everything surrounding the run.
The early alarm.
The miles.
The people.
The coffee afterward.
The shirt you keep wearing for the rest of the day.
We're building apparel around that lifestyle rather than treating running as something that starts when you press your watch and ends when you stop it.
That's what we mean when we say:
Where Running and Culture Meet.
Q: What makes a good run club shirt?
A: You should want to wear it when you're not running.
That's probably the simplest answer.
A great run club shirt can represent a place, a group of people, a memory, or simply the idea that you're part of something.
It shouldn't feel like something that belongs buried in the workout drawer.
Wear it to the run.
Wear it to coffee.
Wear it with jeans tomorrow.
That's the idea.
Q: Do you think running's influence on fashion will last?
A: We think the bigger movement will.
Trends will change. Certain shoes, silhouettes, colors, and brands will come and go.
But the idea of people building communities around movement isn't going anywhere.
Running is incredibly accessible. You don't need a field, court, team, or complicated equipment.
You can put on your shoes and go.
When you combine that simplicity with community, travel, food, music, fashion, and personal identity, you get something much bigger than a fitness trend.
You get culture.
Q: Finally, what does being a Run Club Regular actually mean?
A: It doesn't mean you run every day.
It doesn't mean you're fast.
And it definitely doesn't mean you have to win anything.
A regular is simply someone who keeps coming back.
Some days are fast. Some are slow. Some days you might not run at all.
But you stay connected to the people, the movement, and the culture around it.
Keep showing up.
That's what being a regular is all about.